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Memoirs of the Fall
Meira Starym Towers Falling Alturak 11-21 There is not enough time. Or so thought the elven woman seated at the desk within the depths of the Art Tower of Castle Cormanthor. An unusual thought for a sun elf. Strangely enough, a true sentiment. One that had only gained more validity since the Army of Darkness began marching upon the City of Song not more than three moons ago. There was hardly enough time to properly go over her repertoire of spells, much less plan a strategem from the map of Myth Drannor's environs on the desktop before her. For days the lone towers and outlying schools beyond the protection of the mythal remained besieged by the forces of the nycaloth Gaulguth. Both Ahk'Velahr and Ahk'Faern alike offered what resistance they could, but ground was being lost. Her thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of a young moon elven man, garbed in robes of blue and silver. ''Lady Starym, Lord Haladar has sent word for aid. Anders' Tower. ''Rising from her seated position, she turned to face the the young ahk'faern with a resolute expression. There is no need for pleasantries Reithiir, they will not be needed at our destination. Have everyone assembled, we will leave at once.'' With a curt nod the elven man turned for the door, pausing as he crossed the threshold. Even aside Elbrath's Circle we will be severely outnumbered. Retreiving a slender wand of oak from the shelf full of oddities in her chambers, she fixed him with a calm gaze. That has never been a deterent before, and there is no reason for that to become one now. If we do not stand fast against the darkness who will?. The moon elf only replied with a silent stare, before finally turning to the staircase beyond the door. I will assemble the others faernaa. With that, he vanished up the stairs, leaving the Starym alone with her thoughts. *** The echoes of soft footfalls sounded faintly against the leaf strewn ground, created by more than a dozen robed elves - all of them bearing the black lightning sigils of the Ahk'Faern upon their hands. Ahead of the company of elves was a squat stone tower nestled amongst the trees, veiled in spells of illusion. Few knew its location, and of those who did, fewer knew how to find it. The elven woman garbed in the purple and silver colors of the Starym at the front of the group was one of those few. As was the tall gold elven man flanked by two other elves in chainmail awaiting her arrival a the base of the tower. His expression stern, he greeted their arrival with a brief raising of his palm and a small nod. Meira. The company came to a halt, the lone elven woman striding forward to greet him with her own palm raising in kind. Elbrath. His features changed little, his attention directed to the rolling clouds of black smoke rising in the eastern sky. Our scouts have reported over two hundred orcs and gnolls, and even more than a dozen mezzoloths. Gaulguth is not among the battalion. Her own eyes followed his gaze to the ominous shadows in the sky, frowning slightly. For the sake of our task let us not have the titles of Starym and Haladar come between us. His own reactions apparently set in stone, he looked to his female comrade. While I bear the Haladar name, Paeris and his feud with your cousin Josidiah is not my own. She said no more, few needed to be reminded of Paeris Haladar and his proclaimed vengeance against Josidiah for removing him from his position as Spell-Major. Only twenty three winters ago the displaced archmage tried to kill the Starym bladesinger in his anger, a blink of an eye in time to those of elven blood. The consequences of which left him pariah to all in Cormanthyr. Brushing a strand of red hair from her brow, she looked to the surrounding treeline. Then there is no reason for further delay, we should move to our positions and stop their advance. I have a few suprises for our foes. He looked back to her with an inquisitive expression, a slender golden eyebrow raised a mere fraction. Tell me what you have in mind. *** The midday sun shone bright brightly upon the gentle boughs of the trees around the clearing. If one could call it a clearing, the sunlit area only so in the fact the the trees were less dense then the surrounding wood. The same rays of sunlight peircing the branches above illuminated the hordes of orcs and gnolls in the distant foliage. The leaves themselves seemed to tremble with the anticipation of their passing, their only comfort held in the dozens of elven bowmen residing beside them in the treetops, their arrows carefully trained on the advancing humanoids. Below, the sun also revealed a different visage. Glistening beneath the light of day in full splendor, dozens of elven warriors armed in fine steel - the work of both elven and dwarven smiths - held rank with their weapons at the ready. Farther behind the tree line, numerous mages held their positions with wands and staves at the ready. At the front of the ranks, the tall gold elven warrior shone like a becon as he brought up his hand with his gaze fixed to the advancing batallion, raising his magically augmented voice in kind. Hold fast! Turning to the elven woman beside him, her murmured faintly.''This had better work Meira. ''Her own emerald green eyes remained fixed to the horde visible ahead as she spoke. Nothing is certain Elbrath. It was then that the first orcs and gnolls caught sight of the elves awaiting them. They picked up their march with renewed vigor, gaining ground with frightening speed. That is... not reassuring, I trust you know what you are doing. Only a little closer she thought. It will work. Only moments later did the first wave find out what was waiting for them as an unsuspecting orc's stride was greeted with the faint noise of something breaking under its foot. It barely had time to look down before a bolt of crackling electricty came forth from where his foot was and cut down a line of his comrades. Similar occurances resounded throughtout the battlefield as more elemental fury exploded from beneath the feet of the would be assailants, quickly filling the air with the stench of burnt flesh. Meira gave silent approval to the uses of the magical disks created by the spell developed by her aquaintance. No more than an inch in diameter, the thin crystalline objects stored magical energy, releasing it when broken. Originally designed to hold healing magic or provide an easy means of escape to the user, they made effective traps when buried just beneath the soil. The deafening silence following the magical explosions set by the spell traps was broken by Elbrath's voice booming across the battlefield, magically augmented for the purpose of delivering orders. Now! A barrage of fireballs promptly followed his command, numerous explosions of flame detonating in the distance, sending yet more gnolls and orcs to the their deaths. Though thanks to the ingenuity of another resident of Myth Drannor, Symkalr Vandiir, the nearby plant life remained unaffected by the altered variant on the prominent spell. With the initial assualt, the front line began to advance - their march covered by the arrow shafts launched by their brethren in the treetops and the occasional well aimed spell. By the time the bestial bands regrouped, they had already lost about half their number. Elbrath continued to give orders, calling for his warriors to form ranks and spearhead their advance. Meira scanned the battlefield quickly after discharging a lightning bolt from her wand into the enemy ranks, shouting commands of her own to the nearby Ahk'Faern as the opposing force began to return fire. Focus on their flanks and force them to group up! A crossbow bolt whistled through the air, coming to a halt with a faint flash as it struck against the magical mantle surrounding her form. Without a moment of hesitation she leveled her wand at her attacker - a gnoll not more than fifty yards away - unleashing a crackling bolt of blue energy into his torso and dropping the creature to the ground in a smoking heap. Following her attack in kind, a dozen more arrows rained down upon the group of crossbow wielding gnolls, forcing their right flank to fall back into the main bulk of their forces. At the same time, the point of Elbrath's troops met the advance of the enemy, the battle exploding in a clash of furious steel and iron. Making a deft motion with her hands as she uttered an arcane phrase, a cascade of ice and hail raining down upon the opposite flank of the enemy, covering the area in bone chilling frost. Wand still held at the ready, the movement of a dark shape at the rear of the enemy ranks caught her eye. A scowl touched her lips at the brief sighting, there could be no mistaking the anonymous shadow - a mezzoloth. Regroup! As she directed those around her with a short string of orders she shifted to another form of communication. Thanks to a certain dweomer cast before the battle, she did not need to speak to Elbrath with words. Reaching out across their link that the spell created, her words formed in the back of his mind. The mezzoloths have joined the fray. Moment later, Elbrath's voice replied in the depths of her own consciousness. I saw. I must remain at the front, take care of them. Corellon's grace upon you. She refrained from sending a response. There was nothing left to be said. Without warning the foliage off to her right exploded with movement as the tall form of a mezzoloth burst forth. Its chitinous hide gleamed a dark obsidian in the sunlight, and its multifaceted eyes gleamed with orange light. Two of its arms ended in a pair of pincers that clacked together menacingly, the other two lower arms held fast a three pronged trident. A trident that was at the moment lunging swiftly towards her skull. She was barely able to move aside, the tip of one of the wickedly sharp prongs passing only inches away from her head. She had already begun the incantation she had readied, her slender elven fingers weaving together an intricate pattern in the air as the mezzoloth brought its weapon to bear once more. Just as the horrid creature thrusted forward her spell was wrought, the air around the beast shimmering with faint motes of silver light as it vanished in an implosion of white mist. Her breaths heavy, she turned to find two more mezzoloths at different places on the battlefield and another engaged with Elbrath. He was fending off the four arms of the monstrosity, though he was at a clear disadvantage - his blade hard pressed to find a weakness in its armor-like carapace. With another incantation she was at the other end of the battlefield, emerging form a door shaped rift in the air, her wand already aimed at the nearest mezzoloth as it gored an unlucky elven warrior with its trident. Without missing a beat, she sent a bolt of lightning into the hide of the beast. It let out a fearsome howl as the bolt scorched its midsection, turning to regard her with obvious malevolence as it began to advance with frightening speed. Wasting no time, she began to recite the words to another spell. The mezoloth crossed no more than half the distance before she pointed her hand at her attacker, causing an icy blue orb to streak forth from her fingertips and strike it in the chest, exploding in a cloud of crystalline shards. Still visible in the icy haze, the mezzoloth was covered in a fine layer of permafrost, frozen in place. Within moments it lost balance and fell to the ground, shattering to pieces. Looking back to Elbrath from her new vantage point, he had not faired so well. The mezzoloth had him backed up against the trunk of one of the giant trees so common in Cormanthor. A fine layer of sweat could be seen on his forehead, and his armor was stained with blood. With a string of arcane phrases she cloaked her self in a shroud of invisibility and began levitate of her own volition into the air, coming to rest upon a branch in the boughs above. From her new perch she began weaving another dweomer, one far more complex. Within moments her eyes took on a glazed appearance as a dark rift appeared in the air before her, vaguely resembling the shape of a large sword. Slowly, it descended and made its way across the battlefield, cutting its way the orcs and gnolls in its path. She had one goal in mind as she concentrated on maintainging her spell. Though as the blade moved ever closer towards Elbrath's position, the mezzoloth he fought inched him farther towards the base of the tree, leaving him with little ground. The blade carved its way through the enemy lines. Elbrath's blade glanced off the creatures dark hide leaving no more than a scratch, the mezzoloth was toying with him as it edged him father backwards - like a cat would a mouse. Blood now soaked his fine elven chainmail and his movements grew slower with eash passing moment. Almost there. Just a little longer. It was too late. Just as the blade reached the mezzoloth and rose into the air to strike, Elbrath's gaurd fell. The tip of the mezzoloth's trident lanced out, catching the elven warrior in the midsection to nearly cleave him in two and pin him to the bark of the shadowtop. The black rift fell down for the killing stroke a heartbeat later, slipping with ease into the creatures hide. It shuddered as the blade struck, the energies of the blade lancing into the mezzoloth to tear it apart from the inside out. In the span of moments it was no more, utterly destroyed by the dark planar rift. ''She slumped forward in exhaustion, finally ending her spell. She looked to the still form of Elbrath against the tree, now red with his lifeblood. Muttering faintly under her breath, she scanned the battlefield from her perch. The remaining ranks were breaking and making for the safety of the deeper forest. Without their mezzoloth lieutenants they could not stand fast. Uttering the words of a mass sending spell, she sent the order to her officers to fall back. She looked down from her treetop vantage point once more, her gaze falling to the numerous elven bodies on the ground before looking to the grim sight of Elbrath. The battle was over. For now. Category:Stories